


Second First

by Akumeoi



Series: All Covered In Gold [8]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Reincarnation, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2019-05-18 18:12:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14857719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akumeoi/pseuds/Akumeoi
Summary: 200 years ago, the King died to bring the Dawn. Today, a fresh-faced class of high schoolers learns about his historic and noble sacrifice. Two students in particular find the teacher's theories about the king's secret love life extremely hilarious.





	Second First

“Ignis Scientia’s diary is one of the only primary sources we have that documents the thoughts and lives of King Noctis and his three Crownsguard retainers,” the history teacher explained as the class bent over copies of the diary on their tablets. “Last class we looked at several different versions of the legend of King Noctis. If you look at your hand-outs for today, you’ll see that we’re going to be comparing that legend with the information we can glean from Sir Ignis’s personal account of the king’s life.”

Most of the students duly flipped to the paper handout they had been given, except for those who were not paying attention. 

“I want you to closely read Sir Ignis’s descriptions of himself, King Noctis, Sir Prompto, and Sir Gladiolus,” the teacher continued. “Historical interpretations of these heroes are very controversial. For instance, some scholars believe that at least one of the three retainers was King Noctis’s lover. The King was seen in Hammerhead by Cindy Aurum kissing an unknown man during the last days of the Dark World.” The teacher paused, looking to see the class’s reaction. Many students were often surprised to hear this little scholarly tidbit, because legend told that King Noctis and Lady Lunafreya were star-crossed lovers. As expected, some students looked shocked, while others were nodding as if this information was not new to them.

The two students in the “problem corner” had suspiciously blank expressions, so she sent them a warning frown as she continued.

“It’s clear from Sir Ignis’s account that although he cared for the King very much, he was not the king’s mysterious lover,” she said, writing the names of all three retainers on the digital whiteboard. “Sir Prompto married Iris Amicitia several years after the Dawn, and Sir Gladio married Sania Yeagre, although both of them are still potential candidates. But some scholars believe that the kiss Ms. Aurum saw could have been the product of a scandalous fling King Noctis had with the young Talcott Hester.”

Somewhere at the back of the room, a blond-haired boy sitting next to a black-haired boy burst out into laughter.

————————————————————

“Dude, you’re lucky we didn’t get detention again,” Noctis Divum said to his best friend, Prompto Karus, as he watched Prompto stuff the lunchbox and school supplies from his locker into his backpack. 

“You’re telling me that that wasn’t the funniest fake thing we’ve ever heard about our past lives?” Prompto said, grabbing the razorblade scooter from his locker and then slamming the door shut. “I mean, Talcott? Sure, he was cute, but he was way too young back then. I guess that’s why she said it would’ve been scandalous.”

“I’m kinda offended they thought I would date Gladio,” Noctis agreed, as the the two began to make their way to the exit. “We basically grew up together.” 

As they left the school, they unfolded their scooters and set them down on the sidewalk. Prompto rested one foot against his as crowds of other students milled around them, on their way to catch a school bus or to reach a car in the high school’s parking lot. 

“Wish we had found him and Ignis already,” Prompto sighed. “Reading Ignis’s diary makes me realise how much I miss him.” 

The two exchanged glances, not needing words for Prompto to understand that Noctis felt exactly the same.

Noctis and Prompto had reunited in this life on the first day of kindergarten. One chubby, freckled kid had dropped his grubby chocobo plushie and immediately run up to a shy new student, wrapping him in a massive hug that had knocked him right off his feet. The teacher, fearing that Noctis would be upset, had hurried over to separate them. But when she got there, she had found that both Noctis and Prompto’s faces were split into the biggest grins she’d ever seen on any children on the first day of school, and it had taken ten minutes of cajoling to get them to let go of each other and instead hold hands. The two had been inseparable since.

They had always hoped that they might have a similar reunion with Gladio and Ignis someday. Prompto said he had a good feeling about this high school, but as freshman they had yet to meet a majority of the student body.

“Where do you want to go today?” Prompto said, moving his foot back and forth so that the scooter rocked impatiently. He paused, putting a hand over his heart dramatically. “We have so much homework. What are we gonna do?”

“Oh no,” Noctis said, deadpan. The two of them looked at each other, then burst into laughter. 

“I’ll race you to the park!” Prompto said, jumping onto his scooter and pulling away in a shower of sparks.

“Hey, wait, slow down!” Noctis yelled, quickly following suit. “You’re gonna get hit by a bus!”

————————————————————

It was a warm, early September day. The sky was clear and blue. The leaves on the trees had barely begun turning, if at all. It took them only twenty minutes on their scooters to reach their favourite spot in the park: a grassy triangle framed by trees, with a bench at the front. The trees afforded some privacy, though high-pitched shrieks and laughter could be heard from the children’s playground just over the hill. As he sat down on the bench, Noctis stripped off his jacket. Meanwhile, Prompto flopped down on his stomach in the grass, dumping his backpack and scooter beside him. 

“Which do you wanna do: the math homework, or the history homework?” Prompto said, propping his chin up on one hand. Prompto in this life looked strikingly similar to Prompto in his previous life, but this time, his hair was red, his eyes were grey, and he had more meat on his bones. He had dyed his hair blond for the start of high school, and in honour of their old appearances. As for Noctis, he had been designated female at birth, which meant that he was shorter and curvier than he had been in the previous life. He didn’t mind it. His gender had always been whatever. Everything else was the same, though - black hair, blue eyes, even the mole on his cheek. 

“I’ll take the math, since you seem to think the history stuff is funny,” Noctis said, pulling out his tablet. Prompto smirked. The teachers hadn’t yet figured out that the two of them always did each other’s homework. Neither of them had the slightest interest in playing by the rules of anything at this point in their lives. School was a pain in the ass, a constant struggle between “I know this, we learnt it 200 years ago!” and “Everything we know is wrong because we learnt it 200 years ago.” Every time the legend of the King rolled around in history or English class, they inevitably lost points on assignments for giving the real version of what had happened instead of the currently accepted official version. Not to mention the disasters they made with half-remembered science facts.

Their goal now was just to graduate, get Noctis into community college so he could figure out what he wanted to do with his life, and get Prompto to a fine arts academy to get an actual degree in photography. Things like playing in the park, spending time with their friends and adoptive families, and planning their graduation road trip just seemed so much more important than straight As or perfect attendance records.

For a while, Noctis soaked in the sun, enjoying the breeze on his face as he did their homework. Prompto went through a variety of pretzel-like sitting positions, chewing on the end of his tablet stylus as he flipped through the pages of their worksheet.

After a while, Prompto looked up from the reading he was doing. “Hey, Noct,” he said. “Do you ever, like… regret the fact that we only ever kissed once?” 

He must have been thinking of their last day at Hammerhead before they left to bring the Dawn. Cindy had seen them kissing, and although she had quickly retreated, the spark of bravery that had set them both alight had already died. That had been their first and only kiss.

Noctis totally regretted it had only been once, but he tried to play it cool. He set the homework down on the bench beside him, then turned to Prompto. “I guess,” he admitted. “Yeah.”

Prompto bit his lip. “D’you think,” he said uncertainly, “Now that we’re back in high school again, is there a chance we could… date?” His grey eyes were wide, his freckled skin glowing golden in the sun. 

A little thrill went through Noctis at the question, a question he’d asked himself thousands of times.

Taking a deep breath, he slid from the bench and into the grass. Prompto sucked in a quiet breath as Noctis scooted over to kneel beside him. Noctis looked down at Prompto’s freckled face, watched as the breeze sent a few strands of his bangs flickering over his face. 

“I’m yours,” Noctis said.

Prompto looked up at him, wide-eyed, as he brushed the stray hairs away from Prompto’s forehead with a hand so gentle it was almost trembling. 

“Noct…” Prompto whispered. In his eyes, Noctis could see reflected the longing he felt in himself. Noctis wanted to kiss him, but he felt almost paralysed. He’d been imagining this moment for years, but now that it was finally here, his body wouldn’t move. 

Prompto reached up, framed Noctis’s face with both of his hands, and gently guided Noctis down towards him. Noctis felt like he was falling, the world spinning around him in a mad rush of green grass and sweet blue sky. And at last Prompto was kissing him — tender, tender, soft.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Promptis week 2018 day 8: free day/makeup day. I decided to redo day 1, "first kiss", with a bonus of "high school shenanigans" from day 2.
> 
> Comments always welcome!


End file.
